


Full-moons and Fantasies

by JackyJango



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Pillow Talk, Post-The Summer Palace, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 03:17:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13114860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyJango/pseuds/JackyJango
Summary: ‘I would have, you know,’ Damen says once Laurent has snuggled back into the cocoon of their combined bodies, ‘courted you properly if I had had the time.’ The thoughts have risen, recycled and refined over the years, and somehow, neither of them tire of it.Laurent giggles, his previous anger forgotten. The hot puff of air brushes over Damen's heart.‘What? Don’t you believe me?’‘Like Father would have agreed.’ Though Damen doesn’t see it, he can feel the smile in Laurent's voice; it lightens the burden of their past. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to indulge in the happiness that trails fantasies.





	Full-moons and Fantasies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stifledlaughter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stifledlaughter/gifts).



> _This is my gift for Request #11. For the Prompt: Damen/Laurent romantic stuff_
> 
> GINORMOUS thanks to my beta, **[a-kielon](http://a-kielon.tumblr.com)** , for her kindness and generous help! <3  
> I hope you enjoy this fic, dear giftee, and I hope it fulfills your prompt. 
> 
> A Very Happy New Year to one and all!  
> Cheers!

          ‘Helank is courting Lena.’ 

Laurent’s words pull Damen from the beginnings of a blissful sleep. It takes him a few moments to fully comprehend what he said. The indifference in his tone is so imminent that Laurent might as well be talking about tax laws instead of palace gossip. But Laurent did always have a watchful eye; especially when it came to the ones he cared for.

‘Really?’ Damen smiles, unwillingly opening his eyes. ‘And how does he fare?’

‘Poorly,’ Laurent declares bluntly while his fingers draw random patterns on Damen’s chest. ‘He lacks confidence. It’s a good thing that she finds his clumsiness adorable.’

The stable boy is still young, lanky and callow-faced. Damen doesn't know much about the girl though, except for the fact that Laurent had added her to his skeleton staff after a journey from Vere. And that she tends to shy away from his presence.

Damen remembers being puerile and inexperienced. Though he was physically endowed, his adolescence hadn’t ruptured from the guilelessness of childhood (Laurent would probably argue that the situation hasn’t changed much even now). But then, he always did have Kastor to guide him, to list out the stages of courtship and the protocols tangled with each. He remembers Kastor slapping him on the shoulder and saying, ‘ _ You have to work hard to entice your lover, Damen. Just like you work towards plucking figs from the highest branches. _ ’ Remembers the twinkle in Kastor’s eyes when he had said, ‘ _ And just like the sun-kissed figs, the rewards are sweet. _ ’ The memories stitching in his head feel like the reminiscence of a previous birth. Still... he remembers. 

'Maybe I could help,’ Damen suggests, clearing his mind of his thoughts. 'Guide the boy a little.’ 

‘Really?’ Laurent looks up from where his head lies on Damen’s chest. With amusement in his eyes and the raise of his brows, he asks, ‘What makes  _ you  _ the expert in anything that concerns courting?’

‘I don’t know,’ Damen says with a careless roll of his shoulder. Though the past no longer stings as much as it used to, it still feels like a bitter topic after a session of sweet love making. ‘Maybe the fact that I have had successful courtships before you.’

The mirth in Laurent’s eyes vanishes almost immediately and a stormy blue covers his irises. He sits up straight, completely separating himself from Damen. The angry pink that covers the apple of his cheeks is visible even in the soft firelight. With a tone that barely conceals heat, he says, ‘What makes you think that you  _ successfully  _ courted me, if you did court me at all. And speaking of successful courtships before me, would it be futile to mention that the only person you considered your lover apart from me stabbed you in the back? Both of those points don’t make you an expert.’

Damen fights to conceal the grin threatening to split his face and fails. He could never tire of the displays of Laurent’s jealous streak. It’s one of the many ways Laurent expresses his love and Damen basks in his lover’s possessiveness. Catching Laurent’s fingers in his, Damen pulls him to his chest. It’s a testament to the years that have passed and the love that has rooted between them that Laurent comes willing into his arms instead of shying away.

‘I would have, you know,’ Damen says once Laurent has snuggled back into the cocoon of their combined bodies, ‘courted you properly if I had had the time.’ The thoughts have risen, recycled and refined over the years, and somehow, neither of them tire of it.

Laurent giggles, his previous anger forgotten. The hot puff of air brushes over Damen's heart.

‘What? Don’t you believe me?’

‘Like Father would have agreed.’ Though Damen doesn’t see it, he can feel the smile in Laurent's voice; it lightens the burden of their past. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to indulge in the happiness that trails fantasies. 

‘I don’t see how he could have resisted my offer to open spice trades with Vere while I knelt in open court requesting for the honour to court his youngest son. I don’t think that he could have resisted my charm. I’m sure he would have given me his blessings.’

‘It’s not him you would be trying to charm, remember?’ says Laurent petulantly, and then, softer: ‘It would be me.’

‘Of course. How could I forget? How does the book with the thickest spine from the Akielon Royal Library sound as a greeting gift?’

‘It’s adequate,’ Laurent says haughtily. ‘But what if there are other suitors wanting to pursue me?’

‘See… that’s where Auguste would step in.’

‘Is it? Pray, elaborate.’

Damen squirms and turns to face Laurent, rearranging him on his arm. ‘I’d bond and impress upon him with sports. So that he’d be bound to shower me with his blessings to court his younger brother.’

Laurent hums in thought. ‘What if someone else managed to impress him as well?’

Damen growls. ‘Then I’d wrestle them all and make them bite the dust.’ The solution is very simple (and obvious) for him. He  _ would  _ break the bones of anyone who would dare to approach Laurent. There’s no doubt in that.

The declaration earns him a smack on the side. ‘That would only prove that you’re a giant animal, not that you’re worthy of me.’ Laurent smooths his hand over the skin he hit. ‘...And then? What would happen after you beat them all?’ 

Damen has a nagging doubt in his mind that Laurent disapproving of his displays of strength is only for show. The number of times that sex has followed the events of the said displays speak of a different truth. 

A courting present is to follow, Damen remembers. ‘On our next meeting, I would gift you the most beautiful mare in all of Akielos and take you horse-riding. We’d pack lunch in a basket and eat the spread overlooking the grasslands.’ Damen sighs, remembering, ‘Alas, the most beautiful mare in all of our Kingdom is  _ already  _ yours.’ He had presented it to Laurent on his twenty-fifth name day- a white mare as pure as snow. 

‘Ah yes, the most beautiful mare in our Kingdom  _ is  _ mine. And the strongest steed as well.’ Laurent’s wandering hand stops over Damen’s heart and his smile turns sly. Before Damen can pounce on Laurent and prove to him just how strong the steed is, Laurent points a finger at him and warns: ‘You still haven’t wooed me. Go on.’

Damen grins wildly. Perhaps he’ll get to prove it later. Now, he racks his brain for pointers to the next phase of courting. It involves getting to know your partner in some capacity. ‘I would walk you around your gardens. The setting sun would be mild and the breeze would be cool. It would pull out a strand of hair from your braid and I would lean to tuck it back in. At the end of our walk, I would present you with an arrangement of flowers hand-picked from the gardens.’

‘And what would we talk about?’

‘Anything… Everything. From your favourite colour to tax laws.’ 

A thought sprouts in Damen’s head. Amidst their routine of Kingly duties, it has been a while since the two of them have spared time for each other. He flirts with the idea for a moment before voicing it. ‘Speaking of, would His Majesty be interested in a leisurely stroll through the gardens of Isthima with his admirer, Damen of Akielos, on this coming full-moon?’

Laurent laughs out loud, the sound echoing off the stone walls and reverberating through their chambers. Craning his neck, he presses a kiss to Damen’s cheek. ‘Yes, I would love to,’ he says with a fond smile. 

Damen presses a kiss to Laurent’s hairline in turn and continues, ‘And after our walk through the gardens, we’d dine together under the stars. I would have my men cook you the finest Akielon delicacies and prepare a feast for us. I’d make the dessert myself- Akielon figs dipped in warm honey. We’d eat our suppers in the dim firelight, and emboldened by the burning wine, I’d hold your hand under the table. I’d walk you back to your chambers after dinner and I’d press a parting kiss to your cheek.’ 

Damen ducks his head and pecks Laurent’s exposed cheek in mimicry of his words. Laurent’s attempts at batting him away are only half-hearted. 

‘Dinner reminds me,’ Damen continues, ‘Would His Majesty be interested in dining with the Exalted, Damianos of Akileos, after an evening promenade?’ Damen can have someone set up dinner by the sea, with white cloth flowing from the tables, flowers adorning the sand and firelight wrestling the moonshine for dominance.

Laurent’s eyes twinkle at his words and then go wide in remembrance. ‘We have dinner scheduled with the Patran Merchants that evening. I know you don’t like these things, but we need to be there, Damianos.’

Damen growls. ‘It’s nothing Nikandros can’t handle,’ he declares flippantly. Nikandros has done it in the past, he can do it again. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. Besides, the Kyros of Ios  _ is  _ considered Royalty on this side of their kingdom. 

‘That'll only end up iring him.’

‘And when has  _ that  _ caused  _ you  _ misery.’

Laurent laughs and says placatingly, ‘Alright, I admit. I’m charmed beyond words and wooed to the content of my heart’s desires. What then?’

Damen has always believed that he would end up with Laurent in fantasy or in any version of reality. There’s no way he could have ignored Laurent’s honesty, his closely contained kindness or his breathtaking beauty. The answer that tumbles out of his mouth comes as naturally as the sun rises and the flowers bloom. ‘Then, I would kneel in front of your father in the Veretian court and ask for your hand in marriage.’

The expression Laurent bears upon hearing the words comes too close to startled. His lips part and his eyes widen, as if, even after all these years, he’s shocked to learn that he’s lovable and loved. Damen’s heart cracks a little at the sight. 

With a whisper barely loud enough to be heard, Laurent asks, ‘And what if he refuses?’ The ghost of his words caresses Damen’s skin where he’s holding Laurent close. 

Damen gently rises from bed and pulls Laurent along. He kneels on the floor while Laurent sits on the edge of the soft mattress with his feet touching the ground.

The firelight plays with one side of Laurent’s frame, setting the long line of his pale limbs aflame, while the moonlight pools its light on the other. The gentle breeze flowing in from the sea sifts through Laurent’s blond hair and leaves it waving across his face. The wind carries the perfume of fresh flowers from the gardens across their chambers; it mingles seamlessly with the smell of their lovemaking staining the sheets.

Gently taking Laurent’s hands into his, Damen says, ‘Laurent, your father’s permission is just part of the protocol. It doesn’t bother me whether he approves of me or not. What matters to me is your opinion. Your approval.’ He cups Laurent’s cheek with one hand and the latter eagerly leans into the touch. ‘I would have kneeled in front of you and asked you...’ Damen begins and shakes his head. He should have done this a long time ago. ‘I  _ am _ kneeling in front of you and asking you. Laurent, you’re the truest man I know. You’re kind, smart, intelligent and the strongest man I've had the pleasure of meeting. You’re right. I trust people very easily, but you’re the only one I trust with my heart. If you’ll have me, I will cherish you, care for you and love you with all my soul till the day I die-’

‘Don’t!’ Laurent’s fingers press against his lips. ‘Don’t talk about dea...’ he trails off, his words broken by a hitch in his breath. Laurent’s eyes well up and the tears that break the tension dampen Damen’s fingers. He’s never seen Laurent cry and he never wants to see again. He swipes his thumb across Laurent’s cheekbones, and continues undeterred, ignoring the lump forming in his own throat, ‘Will His Majesty give me the honour of being his husband?’

A wet chuckle escapes Laurent’s lips and Damen smiles in turn. ‘Only if you promise to build me the largest library known to man.’

‘I promise, sweetheart,’ Damen says before kissing Laurent sweetly on the mouth. 

When they part, Laurent pulls Damen on top of him and asks with a dreamy smile, 'Tell me about our wedding.’

-

**Author's Note:**

> Also, [JackyJango](https://jackyjango.tumblr.com) on Tumblr
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
